Once a Runner … thumbs up?
Someone commented (below) that “Once a Runner is one of the worst books he ever got talked into reading.” I disagree. Reading Once a Runner is a rite of passage for any serious runner. Of course its not great Literature [notice the capital 'L']; it wasn’t meant to be. It is an insider’s manual. In the same way every English major knows and loves Holden Caulfield (from Catcher in the Rye), every track geek surely identifies with Quenton Cassidy. But you can’t read Once a Runner if you are past your racing prime. The adrenalin it generates is wasted on all but the young bucks, who are snorting and pawwing at the ground … desperate to prove themselves in the man-world of fast running. I don’t know if this book works for women - we are differently motivated (we want to prove things to ourselves, not necessarily others), but it is a great read for any freshman boy on a college cross-country team who wants to put in the summer, to try to make the jump to varsity, to feel connected to every other runner/warrior eager for the hunt.
4 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
Though I thoroughly enjoyed reading Once a Runner, I have always felt a little guilty (?, or maybe left out?) that I didn’t love it more. I think you’re right about it not necessarily speaking to women (though I know some who claim it works for them), I also think, for obvious reasons, that it works better for middle distance runners than distance runners. Having said that, though, it’s been a few years since I last read OAR, so I think it’s time to read it again and see if I change my mind.
I’ve always hoped that someone would write a similar book about a female runner. I’d also like to see a Running with the Buffaloes-type book which follows a women’s team.
Comment by Alison — 7/18/2005 @ 9:41 am
Oops, sorry, hit the wrong button — I think I just posted a partial post mid-sentence (to the effect that OAR wasn’t great literature, but I could see where it might hit close to home for a lot of runners). Anyway, there are some books where the importance may be more about when you read it, rather than it’s quality as literature. I think All Quiet on the Western Front (high school) and The Sun Also Rises (college — and still Hemingway’s best book) were like that for me. For OAR, I think a similar (but for me, better) book was The Olympian — an earlier novel about a miler named Ike Low. I think it was the part-basis for a movie called The Games (a real track-geek kind of movie, featuring Ryan O’Neal of all things as an Olympic marathoner). Anyway, sorry if I besmirched a much loved book.
Comment by Eric — 7/18/2005 @ 3:04 pm
I loved reading Once a Runner. It’s one of my top favorite books. It inspired me greatly and every word I read put a grin on my face. I could relate to many details about runners in the story and I am just a sophmore girl who runs a pretty slow cross country race. Well I always try my hardest during practices, but I don’t have that natural talent which allows runners to be one of the great ones. I have yet to see how my mile has improved since my training this year and reading this book. I would recommend this book to all those dedicated runners out there, who run for passion and love as I do.
Comment by Hope — 10/27/2005 @ 11:25 pm
Being a senior in high school when I read the book and a college freshman now, let me tell you the background story.
My coach had given me this book and told me to read it before my state qualifying race (regionals) I read the book, loved ever page and saved the last chapter for 40 minutes before my race the 4×800.
After I read that last chapter the entire book changed me and just moved me so much. I went out there being the anchor for our relay, we broke the school record by 15 seconds placing second to the team that ended up going to to be the runner up at states. I split a 1:55.2, later that night in the open 800 ran a 1:56.2 and also qualified for states in that event.
Regardless that book moved me in so many ways and I loved it so much. The pain a runner goes through to get to where they want to be astonishing and for me to what I did this year and get down from a 2:01 down to a 1:55.6 in the open 800 was amazing jump. I’m not running for Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA. Planning on going sub 1:52 this year.
I am trying to put together enough money to buy this book, it’s a must read for any type of runner, but especially an 800/1600/XC runner.
Comment by Cole — 9/8/2007 @ 5:47 pm